Process to adorn or enhance bijouterie

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an ornamental object for creating a gloss surface at a lower cost by using metal powders and/or low-gloss minerals amalgamated with particles of plastic, such as polyester or polyvinyl chloride.

This non-provisional application claims priority over and the benefit ofprovisional application Ser. No. 62/443,873 filed on Jan. 9, 2017, thecontent of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to an ornamental object for creating agloss surface at a lower cost by using metal powders and/or low-glossminerals amalgamated with particles of plastic, such as polyester orpolyvinyl chloride.

Many jewels using stones or glass of different shapes and sizes forornamentation and embellishment are known in jewelry-making. Thesevarious ornaments referred to as stones for minerals or rhinestones forglass are used in jewelry for their beauty, their rarity, but especiallyfor their glitter. The most well-known system for optimizing thebrilliance of a piece of jewelry consists in “pave-setting” severalsmall cut stones next to one another in order to create a largebrilliant surface. This stone-setting and cutting step is dependent ontime and a very specific technique requiring time and effort, and hencea cost.

This brilliance produced by natural or synthetic pave-set stones has,furthermore, been addressed by various inventions seeking to optimizebrilliance.

Small stones cut in a special way been realized and fitted into oneanother to obtain a surface of a perfect brilliance and color without anoticeable metal, i.e., the “invisible set” technique.

The present invention will enable the production of a gloss surface at alower cost due to simple powders or fragments of metals and/or mineralsassociated with particles or spangles of plastics, such as polyester orpolyvinyl chloride. In contrast with the prior art which provided onlyfor decorating stones present on jewels by gluing the ornaments directlyon their surface of the stone itself, the presently claimed inventionprovides for a new process to obtain decorations or ornaments on theentire jewel.

The cost-efficiency of the present invention over the other currentlyused technique will be realized not only due to considerabletime-savings, but also by using, instead small cut stones, a simplepowder, flakes or spangles of metals and/or minerals that will beamalgamated on their surface by 25-50% with particles or spangles of aplastic, such as polyester or polyvinyl chloride.

The invention will likewise be useful for recycling mineral fragments orwaste currently not recovered.

A solid fragment of the earth's or lunar crust is termed amineral/metal. In any case, the mineral/metal must be of a naturalorigin, even though the invention also applies to glass. The majority ofgems or so-called precious or fine stones belong to the mineral kingdom.

As for metals, the present invention will mainly use precious metals,such as silver, gold or platinum, or metal alloys, such as bronze,brass, or metals, e.g., copper. As for minerals, any type of mineralwill be used depending on the desired color or cost, e.g., diamond,lapiz lazuli, ruby, sapphire, among others.

The present invention is thus characterized in that low-gloss powders orfragments, e.g., powders of minerals or metals, are amalgamated by 25 to50% on their surface with particles/powders or spangles of a plastic,such as polyester or polyvinyl chloride, whereby this amalgam, onceready, will be repeated and then deposited and fastened in turn in acavity preferably designed especially for this purpose in order tocreate a gloss [brilliant] surface at a lower cost. The reaction occursat room temperature, between about 18° C. to about 25° C. The preferredtemperature is 23° C. A typical process comprises mixing 2 g of [a]precious metal or mineral with 4 g of [a] plastic and mix[ing] theresulting composition with 6 g of epoxide for 30″ in order to obtain theamalgam. It should be noted that when temperatures lower than about 18°C. are used, the amalgam has a consistency [that is] almost liquid,while at temperatures higher than 25° C., the amalgam become too hard,too fast. Moreover, with the presently claimed method, it is possible tofill up to 50 cavity [cavities?] in approximately 3 minutes.

According to an important feature of the invention, the plastic elementswill be amalgamated with metals and/or minerals using different types ofglues or resin and subject to the optimal tolerance and resistance ofthe mineral and/or metal. A durable, translucent, two-componentepoxy-type binder will preferably be used to position and then fastenthe amalgam in a cavity designed for this purpose.

The utilized plastic powders will have a high brilliance andreflectivity, it is due to this plastic that the brilliance is obtained,in that the utilized mineral or metal powders will have a lowreflectivity, as these powders will not be worked, so as to avoidadditional costs, instead, generally recovered powders or flakes of avery low gloss will be used.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide for a method toadorn or enhance jewels, said method comprising preparing a compositionof metals' or minerals' powders and a plastic; and adding saidcomposition to one or more cavity present on the surface of the jewelsto be adorned or enhanced.

The metals or minerals of the present invention are selected from thegroup consisting of diamond, corundum, quartz, glass, silver, gold,platinum, copper and brass.

The preferred plastics are polyester or polyvinyl chloride.

In one of the preferred embodiment, the minerals or the metals areadhered to the plastic with the aid of a glue.

In another preferred embodiment, the glue is an epoxide.

The invention will be better understood, and its other aims, features,details and advantages will become clearer from the followingexplanatory description with reference to the attached schematicdrawings provided solely by way of example and illustrating anembodiment of the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top and a side view of a fragment of mineral, such ascorundum or ruby.

FIG. 2 shows a plastic element with high-gloss reflectivity.

FIG. 3 shows the mineral of FIG. 1 with the plastic particle fastened onthe said mineral of FIG. 1 by 40%.

FIG. 4 shows the cavity commonly produced in jewelry-making forreceiving stones, but which in the present invention will be ready toreceive the amalgam of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 shows an amalgam of mineral 3.

FIG. 6 shows the cavity commonly produced in jewelry-making, once theamalgam (5) is placed therein.

FIG. 7 shows a pendant-type piece of jewelry with cavities (4).

FIG. 8 shows the pendant-type piece of jewelry (7) with cavities (4) andthe amalgam (5) deposited therein.

The drawings show a rounded pendant as an application of the presentinvention, however, the invention is applicable to other sizes andshapes, as well.

The mineral and/or metal to be adorned will be of a natural and/ororganic origin; however, the invention may also be applied on syntheticstones, such as zircon, and also glass.

According to the invention, low-gloss powders or fragments (1), e.g.,powders of minerals or metals, are amalgamated by 25 to 50% on theirsurface with particles/powders or spangles (2) of a plastic, such aspolyester or polyvinyl chloride, whereby this amalgam (3), once ready,will be repeated (5) and then deposited and fastened in turn in a cavity4, preferably designed especially for this purpose in order to create agloss surface at a lower cost thereby replacing the small cut stonesthat are frequently used in jewelry-making.

The material of the powders or flakes (1) will be selected according tothe preferred color, and more particularly, according to the valuepreferably added to the jewel to be adorned (7), as well.

The powders or flakes (1) will generally be of a tiny volume and may ormay not be of various shapes and sizes, the key being that they have lowreflectivity and thus a lower cost, as these will be recovered orrecycled powders or metals. On their surface, a particle or spangle 2 ofa plastic, such as polyester or polyvinyl chloride, will be fastenedwith a translucent epoxy-type binder, or any suitable adhesive or resin,such as silicone, UV, neoprene, alcohol, etc., and depending on thetolerance and the appropriate resistance to the metal/mineral (1).Indeed, for metals/minerals (1) whose surface is rather porous andorganic like amber, it is preferable to use resins that are highlyresistant to (2) epoxy-type components. For minerals (1), whose surfacewill be quite flat and of a relatively high hardness, such as amethystor rock crystal, a UV-type glue will be more appropriate.

The percentage of the surface to be covered with particles (2) on themetal/mineral (1) will be defined according to the needs of the desiredaesthetic or the value preferably added. A ratio of 50% will generallybe applied on fragments or flakes of unusable minerals as ornament on ajewel, but may be recycled and used thanks to the present invention.

Indeed, it will be of commercial interest to be able to recoverfragments of noble minerals, such as amethyst or citrine, or even flakesof diamonds that have lost their luster and thus give them a secondluster, thanks to the present invention.

A small percentage of the surface ranging from 25% to 35% will generallybe applied on a mineral having a more homogeneous form. In fact, key isthat powders or fragments of metals or minerals (1) with low brillianceand reflectivity be amalgamated on particles or spangles (2) of plastic,such as polyester or polyvinyl chloride (2) using various suitable glueson the surface of the metal or mineral in order to obtain the metal ormineral (3), thus repeating the operation depending on the size of thecavity (4) to be adorned, the amalgam (5) will thus be placed in thecavity (4), and the combination will create a glossy surface at a lowercost, saving between 100 and 500% in time and effort, thanks to thepresent invention compared with the traditional setting or gluingtechnique

Thus, although the powders (1) are shown in rounded shapes, they couldbe in any other form and consisting of several different minerals and/ormetals.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and described indetail, since it allows for various modifications and improvements.

1. An ornamental object comprising a metallic or mineral element, uponwhich a first ornamental particle is adhesively fastened, wherein saidmetal or mineral element is in the form of fragment with lowreflectivity, and said first ornamental particle is made of a plastic,such as polyester or polyvinyl chloride.
 2. An ornamental objectcomprising a metal or mineral element, upon which a second ornamentalparticle is adhesively fastened, wherein said mineral or metal elementconsists of low-gloss materials on the one hand, and said firstornamental particle has high-gloss characteristics, which, onceamalgamated and repeated, will be deposited in a cavity.
 3. Anornamental object according to claim 1 wherein said mineral or metalelement is made of a material selected from diamond, corundum, quartz,glass, for its mineral, and silver, gold, platinum, copper, brass forits metal element.
 4. An ornamental object according to claim 1 whereinsaid ornamental particle is plastic selected from polyester or polyvinylchloride.
 5. An ornamental object according to claim 1 wherein saidfirst ornamental particle adheres to the mineral element or metal bymeans of a glue.
 6. An ornamental object according to claim 1 whereinsaid mineral element or metal is a simple low-gloss fragment.
 7. Anornamental object according to claim 1 wherein said first ornamentalparticle has a very high reflectivity.
 8. An ornamental object accordingto claim 1 wherein said ornamental particle is distributed on thesurface of said metal or mineral by 25 to 50%.
 9. A method to adorn orenhance bijouteries, said method comprising: preparing a compositioncomprising metals' or minerals' powders; and a plastic material; andadding said composition to one or more cavity on said bijouteries. 10.The method according to claim 9, wherein said metals or minerals areselected from the group consisting of diamond, corundum, quartz, glass,silver, gold, platinum, copper and brass.
 11. The method according toclaim 9, wherein said plastic material comprises polyester or PolyvinylChloride.
 12. The method according to claim 9, wherein said powdersadhere to said plastic material with the aid of a glue.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein said glue is an epoxide.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the plastic material is added on thesurfact of said minerals' or metal's powders in a ratio of approximately25 to 50%.
 15. The method according to claim 9, wherein said preparingstep is carried out between about 18° C. to about 25° C. for 30″. 16.The method according to claim 9, wherein said preparing step is carriedout at 23° C. for 30″.